Nightmares
by RainbowlishAndjela
Summary: A nightmare she had recently is plaguing her mind. She has no choice but to seek comfort from a friend in the middle of the night, only one student was awake though. It was Sero Hanta, her crush. ; Hanta Sero X OC ; One-shot, I guess?


**Author's Notes**

Phew, my first ever fanfiction, woot!

Just gonna keep this short and sweet. Thanks so much to my good friend Archiblitz from deviantArt for helping me make this fic into reality. Without her help, I would've ended up with a fic full of language mistakes.

I need to read more... Dx

Anyway, please enjoy!

_Disclaimer; I do not own My Hero Academia, alright?_

* * *

Hanta Sero was lying on his bed in his dorm room, reading a book. It was supposed to be lights out in his dorm, so he borrowed a lamp from Toru to continue his reading. It was close to one in the morning and he was only halfway into his book, but he was determined to finish it. He was not too worried since he had no classes with Mr Aizawa in the morning, so he could have all night to himself. Just as he thought that while he went on to the next page, a knock erupted the still silence in his room, alerting his attention.

He sat up, book still in hand and gazed at the door wondering who would be needing him at this time of the night. "Who is it?"

He was surprised to hear a timid voice. "Um... Sero-kun? It's me, Anjera. Can I come in?"

He had expected the likes of Kirishima or Kaminari, but not Anjera. Before he could think more about it, he realised he was only in his boxers and a girl was at his door.

"One sec, I gotta dress up." He bounced off from his bed to change and Anjera, in her same timid voice, told him if he could let her in once he was done. He hummed in response. Not that he thought of it, but no one could reject Anjera with the way she sounded.

It did not take long for Sero to put away his book despite his disappointment, but he figured a little disruption would not hurt especially coming from Anjera.

In no time he was at his door, opening to see the girl in a plain tank top and pink shorts, blanket close to her chest. She was like a scared child.

"I hope I'm not disturbing you, Sero-kun..." she stuttered out politely.

She was a lot more skittish than usual, so Sero guessed that she must have had a nightmare. The lingering fear in her eyes told him everything else if he somehow missed her obvious body language. Forming a more encouraging grin, he tried to sway his sleep-deprived self for his more original happy-go-lucky one from the day.

"No, not at all. Come inside!"

He watched her move into his room cautiously as if she might break something in it. The way she was looking around his room too like there was something he could not see. Then again, it was his room and he has seen just about everything that could be seen. It was a comfortable place; he made sure of that. Sero was a man of comfort! It was apparent that the girl needed that comfort too.

"Let me guess, a nightmare huh?"

"Yes..." it was barely audible enough for Sero to hear, "Whenever I have nightmares, they're pretty lucid... and real..."

She was just about to begin her explanation, but her stuttering went to a halt. At this point, she was more or less choking out her words and Sero saw this as a sign to intervene. He was apprehensive at first about her presence in his room, but his doubts were long gone now. His priority was to cater to this girl, who looked like she just went through hell and came back again. She was not like Toru or Ochako, whose personalities were bubbly and outgoing. Although Anjera was just as extroverted, he knows under her friendliness she was still a shy girl who was adapting to U.A. Deep inside, he was actually comforted that he was trusted enough for her to come to him.

He placed a gentle hand on her shoulder and guided her to his bed. She was startled for a beat, hesitant, but she followed. In the short, silent moment when they were settling down, Sero couldn't help but wonder: Why would she go to him? There were other classmates that she could visit, but she did not. Just when he was about to ask, Anjera spoke.

"If you're going to ask why I came to your room instead of the others, it's because they were all asleep."

Sero mouthed a little 'oh', a little shocked that Anjera answered his unspoken questions just like that. Now a little less concerned, he scooted closer to her, eyeing her and offering a softer smile to show that he was all ears. She took this as her cue to continue her explanation.

"After my nightmare, I was too scared to go back to sleep. I got up, left my dorm and started wandering in the hallways," she exhaled before continuing, "After a while, I decided to try visiting one of my classmates to feel comfortable again. But at every door I pressed my ear against, I either hear deep breathing or loud snoring."

"So that's why, huh..." Sero gazed at her. This girl was so polite that she would not even dare disturb her peers in their sleep even though she needed help. She then turned her gaze at him. "So... I can leave now if you want. Sorry for disturbing you..." She stood up to leave, "Thank you Sero-kun."

"No, wait."

Sero moved around her before she could flee. A look of puzzlement and slight intimidation showed in her eyes. Sero realised it appeared like he was staring down at her, enclosing her into his own room. He scratched the back of his neck nervously.

"If it makes you feel better, Anjera-san, you can stay here a while longer."

"R-Really?"

Hearing his proposition, he saw her cheeks blush a faint pink. She was so funny, but in a good way, he thought.

"I appreciate it Sero-kun, I do, but I'm fine."

"Well, you don't look fine to me, your face says otherwise," Sero states firmly, which was quite uncharacteristic of him. Anjera didn't actually know how she looked, but it must've been pretty bad for Sero to point it out like that. "You can talk about your nightmare to me, so you can get it off your chest!"

An awkward silence followed.

Anjera was a jittery mess, hesitant. Already she had bothered Sero from his rest, but the fact that he was willing to let her stay, both nerved and excited her. She looked up to catch almond eyes staring back at her, their intensity so piercing that there was no way she could turn the kind offer down. She could not help the small smile tugging at her lips.

"I guess I can stay here a bit more... Alright Sero-kun."

Hearing that, Sero grinned back. Besides, he was her friend. He could not bear to leave her in her dishevelled state as long as he could do something about it. Seeing her so hurt and pale bothered him more than he would admit.

"But I need to gather the courage to talk about this nightmare, because it was really terrifying, for me..." she reminisced while looking down. She knew nightmares for her were vastly different from others since her quirk could manifest them to reality. She understands that her reaction was a bit too exaggerated if it was just a normal nightmare, which is what she was so insecure about, it was hard to talk about it.

"Sure, take your time."

His smile softened into a neutral expression, so as to not overwhelm her. He glanced away for a moment before reverting his gaze back to her. Anjera crossed her arms and sat down on his bed again, a frown forming on her face.

"I sometimes have a habit of manifesting dreams and nightmares around me when I'm asleep..." she began venting, stammering quite severely, trying to piece words together. "But this dream turned into a nightmare. I woke up paralyzed while staring at a monster that manifested from my mind..."

Sero was rather surprised to see tears well up in her eyes. "This monster was so hideous and scary... That..." she choked up, covering her mouth with her hand and trying to keep herself from breaking down.

Sero stood beside her, listening very closely while also feeling remorse for the poor girl. He did not know what he could do or say to her, to take her away from her pain, but he figured that he should sit next to her again. As he did this, Anjera looked at him with tearful eyes. Embarrassed, she quickly looked away from him.

She apologized while rubbing her eyes, getting rid of the tears. She forced herself to continue.

"That monster, also spoke very sinister things... Discouraging comments, like that I won't become a hero... Or that..." she gritted her teeth and froze, deciding not to finish that last sentence. "After all that, the monster vanished... It was a temporary manifestation, thankfully..."

Anjera then dazed off, tears soon drying out. After hearing all this, Sero put his hand on her shoulder, squeezing gently and looking at her with a comforting smile.

"S-Sero-kun... I'm sorry you had to go through all that..." she looked up to him, apologetic as always.

"No, it's fine Anjera-san. I can't imagine going through all that myself."

With that, he wrapped his arm around her, making Anjera squeal mentally and flush under him. Luckily for her, he must have missed her girly squeal. Sero continued to comfort her.

"Besides, that monster is gone now. Try not to think about it too much, you're safe here at U.A."

"And I know, that you're going to be an amazing hero. Forget about what that monster said about you because I know that you'll get through U.A. like the rest of us."

He could tell that his words of encouragement had calmed her down, which allowed him to relax as well.

Anjera could not also help but feel all embarrassingly flustered inside because his arm was around her and he pulled her a little closer too. He then for some reason, fell into some kind of trance, which made Anjera felt like he was staring into her soul.

"Um... Sero-kun?" she whispered softly.

"Hm? What is it?" he whispered back to her. His low voice was so comforting, she silently wished she could stay for a while longer. Alas, it was too much to ask for, he had already given her more than she expected today. She reluctantly points out bluntly about their intimate position.

"Not that I'm complaining, but... You're a bit close to me."

"Oh!" Sero falls out of his shortlived trance, quickly removing his arm from her and rubs the back of his neck, sheepish and ashamed that he might have did more harm than good. Anjera noticed he did that a lot, rubbing his neck.

"Sorry about that... Heh, guess I made you more uncomfortable by doing that."

"No, it's... fine. It's not like that I didn't enjoy it..."

It took a moment for Anjera to realise what she had said and is she was not already a hot, blubbering mess before, she was red all over now. Sero chuckled heartily at it, relieved and quite flattered. He was glad to be a good friend for her. It did not stop the feeling of butterflies that swarmed at him, though.

"Anyways, I should be going now..." she pulled her blanket back to her chest, having loosened her grip when she was talking. She stood up. "I feel so much lighter having talked about it to you..."

"Thank you, Sero-kun."

Her sense of dread was long gone, feeling calmer now. He saw her make her way to the door and waved goodbye at him.

Sero should be satisfied. He managed to take care of her and make her feel like herself again. Still, he could not shake the uneasiness of seeing Anjera leave so soon. As she was turning the knob, he stood up suddenly and crossed over to her and in a flash, had her wrist in his hand.

"Sero-kun?"

"Anjera-san... I'm no expert at analyzing your Quirk, but that nightmare you had is still probably fresh in your mind, so it might turn real again."

He removes his hand to card his hair, looking away. "So... If you want to, you can sleep here tonight."

She gazed into his eyes, bewildered.

"What?" Did she hear him correctly?

"You can sleep here in my room tonight if you're still afraid of going back to yours and sleeping alone."

Anjera's eyes widened. She couldn't believe what her ears were hearing. Her crush was offering her to stay? What were the chances? She took a moment to think about it. She was all giddy inside. Did her crush really just offered her to stay for the night?

"... If I went back to sleep now, that monster would return and terrify me even more."

"So that's a yes then. Right?" He looks at her hopefully and she nodded in response, only able to offer a small smile to affirm herself. Sero's grin forms yet again. She held her blanket tighter, smiling a little too giddily.

Then a random reminder popped into Sero's mind, so he told Anjera to hold on for a moment.

As he went to do what he had to do, Anjera used the opportunity to look around Sero's room, amazed at how it reflected the Asian culture. Since she was from Europe, the Asian culture was like a whole other world and she was very much interested in it, hoping to learn all about it someday. She eyed everything that she could see, which included the bed. It did not escape her notice that it was barely enough for two people to lie on. Since Sero turned his back on her, she checked out on him for a bit before glancing back to the bed, guilty if she looked longer she would be ogling him, if she had not already.

She sucks in a breathe, wondering how she could word herself.

"Sero-kun, should I sleep on the hammock, on the floor or...?" she pointed to the bed hesitantly, which Sero followed his gaze to.

"The bed?" Sero questions her, causing her to shake her head vigorously. She already regretted asking.

"It's okay! What am I even asking? S-Sorry..."

She scolded herself in her mind. "What are you thinking?! You have a hammock in front of you for Pete's sake!"

"The bed is barely for two people Anjera-san," he pointed out obviously, "Therefore, you can sleep on the hammock, alright?"

"S-Sorry..." she mumbles under her breath and makes her way towards the hammock. He noted how embarrassed she looked. Sero also made his way to his bed.

After studying the hammock, she realized that it was made of tape, a product of Sero's quirk. She felt it, and it felt sturdy enough for her to lie on. She turned her head and saw Sero getting in the bed, covering himself with the covers, his back turned to her as well. Since this was her first time sleeping in a hammock, she slowly climbed into it, trying to not cause any more embarrassment for herself by falling off.

She was facing towards Sero's back, he did not look like he was going to turn around anytime soon, which made her feel a little awful. She covered herself with the blanket and tried to make herself comfortable. After an irritating minute, she finally found a good position for her body.

"Good night, Sero-kun," she made herself say. She did not expect him to bid her a good night back though. She was eating herself away for asking where she could sleep.

To her pleasant surprise, he did respond to her while he turned off the lamp. "... Good night."

She willed herself to calm down. "Okay, okay... Never ask anything like that again, okay?" she told herself. She drifted her thoughts away into thinking about her chores in the morning.

"What to do when I wake up... Actually, when should I wake up?" she pondered. The students usually wake up from five to seven in the morning. She wakes up at around five or six but sometimes wakes up at ten because of her broken sleep schedule.

"I have to work on my sleeping... After I wake up, I should leave Sero's room as quietly as I possibly can."

Having that settled, she began to imagine certain pleasant scenes in her mind to make her drift away to sleep. She also prepared herself for any nightmares that would try to hijack her dreams. Within two minutes, she falls into a nightmare-free slumber.

Sero could hear her breathing slowly, realising that the girl had finally fallen asleep. Sero felt awful for being quite stern to her just now, but it was the right thing to do. He did not want to get interrogated by his friends about this event tomorrow if any of them found out somehow. Although, a small part of him wondered if he had allowed her to sleep beside him, hugging each other... What was he thinking? They were just friends. He willed the thoughts away before falling asleep.

* * *

Birds were chirping as eagerly as ever, which woke Anjera up. Rubbing her eyes, she got up from the hammock and stretched her joints as quietly as she could, so as to not to wake her companion. She looked over to Sero. He was still sleeping peacefully.

She did not want to wake him up, but she did not want to leave without saying anything either. It was a matter of seconds before an idea struck her. She manifested a small piece of paper and a pencil on her hands. On the paper, she wrote a message. After she was done, she placed it on the cupboard beside Sero's book from last night. She yanked her blanket from the hammock and silently left. Out in the hallways, she wandered about, realising that some students were still sleeping while others like Iida, Midoriya and Ochako had already gotten up. It did not take long for her to reach her own room, swiftly closing the door behind her and making herself at home after a night in someone else's room. She took a good look around her own room and realised it was a total mess. She folded her blanket aside and proceeded to clean up and get freshened.

Half an hour had passed after Anjera left and Sero finally woke up. He stretched, yawned, scratched his head and felt really groggy. As he got up, he noticed a piece of paper placed neatly next to his book. Upon closer inspection, he realized that it was a note from Anjera, what happened earlier in the morning running fresh through his mind. He started to read it aloud to himself.

'_Dear Sero-kun,_

_thank you so much for allowing me to stay in for the night. Luckily, I had no nightmares while sleeping in your room, I was able to reflect them away. I would like to apologize for asking that question last night. You know... the one when I asked where I should sleep? I'm entirely embarrassed about that... Sorry. I'll understand if you're mad at me because of that.'_

"She's still embarrassed about that question from last night?" he thought to himself, puzzled. "I better tell her that it's okay and that I'm not mad about it at all."

_'And... thank you for listening to me and comforting me when I was almost about to sob uncontrollably. You made me feel so much more relaxed after you listened to me and encouraged me._'

He continued to read the note, starting to grin to himself.

'_I don't know what I can repay you with, but... Meet me at the lounge area after you've gotten ready for the day, alright? I want to say one more thing to you in person._

_~Anjera Niji'_

Sero did not think that Anjera owed him anything, a simple little word of thanks would have sufficed. He returned the note to its original place and went about his morning routine.

* * *

Down in the lounge area of the dormitory, Anjera anxiously waited for Sero to come. She went with her casual attire, a purple t-shirt and light blue trousers.

She looks at the gift she held in her hand. An orange. She knew that Sero held a healthy diet, so she did not want to come across as inconsiderate and give him something unhealthy. She temporarily manifested a watch and looked at the time. It was half-past six in the morning, and still no sign of Sero. She suddenly shivers a little, worry wrecking her. What if he threw away the note, or just ignored it?

She was relieved when she saw Sero step out of the elevator. Her manifested watch vanished into thin air and she fixed herself to appear normal. He spotted her by the sofa and walked towards her with a cheerful grin.

"Good morning Anjera-san!"

"Good morning, Sero-kun."

They both greeted each other with pleasant smiles. She noticed that Sero was also in his casual attire. She fell quiet again, but Sero broke the ice immediately.

"I saw your note when I woke up."

"Oh, you did?" she asked nervously, and Sero nodded.

"And Anjera-san, I'm not mad at all about what you asked last night. If anything, I was just surprised."

A small part of her that still thought about it was greatly relieved.

"I know Sero-kun, but I'm still ashamed. I didn't want to be rude or inappropriate..."

"I know that you're a good person. You've made a mistake, but you quickly learned from that mistake and corrected it. I've accepted your apology already, Anjera-san."

"Ah, I see... Okay."

The anxiety in her belly turns into butterflies. Her crush was telling her that she's a good person!

"Also, I'm glad that I was able to help you. I hope that sleeping in my hammock wasn't too uncomfortable for you." He smiled sheepishly at the mention of his self-made furniture.

"No, it was fine. It was just a bit cold, but I still slept well." She realised she was squeaking a bit, so she looked straight into his eyes and made her voice full and sincere.

"Thank you Sero-kun... So much."

He gazed back at her. She thought she saw his pupils dilate a bit, which struck to her eagerly inside. The boy broke into a toothy grin.

"You're welcome Anjera-san. If you ever need help again, just come to me to help you out!"

Somewhere in her mind, there was a debate going on. One that encouraged her to go ahead and give the orange to Sero, but the other held her back, telling her it was a bad idea. Sero looked like he was about to leave. Just when he was about to make his move, Anjera grabbed him by his arm, stopping him from leaving. He turned to look down at Anjera, then eyed the hand she had on his arm... his bicep, at that. It finally dawned to Anjera how haphazard her action was, quickly pulling her hand away and cheeks flushed in both shame and the part of her that liked what she touched.

Thankfully, Sero could understand that that was her very clumsy way of telling him that she wanted his company for a minute longer. He remained and waited while Anjera seemed to have malfunctioned, but just about to get back in order. He watched her as she took a gulp of air.

"Excuse me..." she paused before she pulled an orange out and stretched her hands towards him with the fruit. "I wanted to give this to you Sero-kun, as a 'thank you' as well."

He was pleasantly surprised by the gift, but of course, he modestly declined.

"Anjera-san, there's no need for that! A 'thank you' is enough for me."

"Please, I insist, Sero-kun! Besides, it's just one fruit," she persisted.

"She has a point..." Sero thought to himself, he did not want to be rude and refuse the gift.

"Alright, I'll take it." he grinned at her, and she smiled back.

"It's not much... But it's the least that I can give to you, Sero-kun."

Sero chuckled softly and put his hand on her shoulder. She was looking down, hiding the blush that has been growing on her face.

"It's at least something. Thanks Anjera-san."

Anjera lifted her head and looked into his eyes, something that she prevents herself from doing knowing how her heart would be.

"You're welcome, Sero-kun."

After that exchange, they heard a shout from across the lounge area, near the exit.

"Yo Sero! Wanna come hang out?"

Both shifted their heads to look at who shouted. It was Kirishima with Bakugo, Kaminari and Mina. They were cheerful as ever... Except for the ash-blonde teen, of course. Sero glanced back at Anjera to give her one last smile.

"See you Anjera-san, thanks again!" He then hurries over to the group to join them.

She waves at him, watching the group leave, then moved her hands on her chest.

"He's so nice... And dreamy. Oh, how I wish he would be with me now... Holding me close, protecting me in his arms..."

"Niji-san?"

She jumped out from her stupour and shook her head vigorously, which messed her hair up.

"Huh, what, where?" she stammers, noticing Tenya Iida standing before her.

"You were daydreaming again."

"Oh, was I?" she laughs nervously and fixed her hair. "Sorry Iida-san, is there anything I can help you with today?"

Part of her morning routine was helping Iida with various tasks.

"Hmm... I guess you can. But, I'm not forcing you to, Niji-san! If you want to, you can help," he told her while flailing his arms around in a certain pattern. She giggles to herself seeing this.

"Iida-san, of course I want to help! Besides, I don't have anything else to do now. And please, call me by my first name. You know I don't mind it!"

She really does not have a lot to do in her schedule, so she often kills time by helping others, studying or hanging out with friends. She has a lot of respect for Iida, because he was a responsible student and a very ambitious person. At the same time, he was also very respectful of others.

"Do you know that I would feel rude if I called you by your first name, Niji-san?" he nervously flailed his arms around.

Anjera giggled even louder than before. "Oh Iida-san..."

"So! Shall we move on to the task that we need to finish?" he asks her. Anjera nods in agreement while smiling. Iida smiles in return and gestures for her to follow him.

While walking beside Iida towards the outdoor area, Anjera thought about Sero, and what he was doing with Kirishima and the others. It was awfully silent when she and Iida were walking together, and pretty awkward too. She decided to ask about the task that they were going to do.

"Hey, Iida-san."

He glanced over to her.

"What do we have to do?" Iida expected this, so he quickly answered her.

"Nothing much, just a couple of outdoor items needing to be arranged. Some are missing, so I thought I could-"

"Use my Quirk to manifest those missing items. Right?"

"Iida looked at her and smiled, he was surprised at how good she was able to connect the dots.

"Correct," Iida replies, and Anjera smiled cheerfully, being in a very pleasant mood. Everything the night before had completely left her mind.

"Alright then! Let's get to it!"

"By the way Niji-san, I've been meaning to ask you something too."

She turned to Iida and waited for his question.

"What have you been doing last night?" he asked with a serious expression. Anjera's face went pale and her mood dropped, she never expected that question.

"Nothing in particular..." she paused before asking him, "Why?"

"Because this morning I saw you leaving Sero Hanta's room." Her eyes went wide and anxiety gripped her. She saw Iida awake in his room earlier in the morning but did not think he had seen her.

As Iida was about to ask her again, she quickly stopped and turned towards him to explain, putting up a serious face too.

"Iida-san, I was having horrible nightmares last night and I couldn't sleep. I felt the need to be comforted by someone from the terrifying experience. So before I went into Sero-kun's room, I checked everyone's rooms by putting my ear against the doors to see if they were sleeping." She paused to catch her breath.

"So all of them were fast asleep, correct?" he asked her.

"Yes, including you," she answered before continuing her explanation.

"Except for Sero-kun. I was patient and respectful of Sero-kun's privacy. After all, I just wanted to be comforted from my horrible nightmare. When I was about to leave, he was the one who asked me to stay in for the night."

"And we didn't do anything inappropriate last night, I swear it."

She then put her hand where her heart was, to further emphasize her honesty. Iida looked at her in awe. She was being really honest and recalling everything that had happened. After all, she disliked being dishonest about certain topics and her alibis. Silence stood between then and Anjera started to worry if Iida had doubted her. Iida's frown broke into a small smile.

"Alright, I understand. Thank you for being honest, Niji-san."

Relieved, Anjera sighed and let her hands hang from her sides.

"I apologize if I was being too direct, it is my duty as the Class Representative to ensure that everyone is safe, responsible and respectful to each other and their privacy," he said while crossing his arms.

"No, it's okay Iida-san, I understand your duty and the reason for it."

"So, now that it's out of the question, should we go and manifest outdoor items?"

"Yes, we should," Iida agrees, moving on from before.

They reached the door that led to the outdoors. Iida, being a gentleman, opened the door and gestured for Anjera to go through first. "Such a gentleman..." she thought to herself.

"I wonder..." she begins to daydream yet again, "If me and Sero-kun have really done something... More..."

She snaps herself from imagining more. Whatever she and Sero have, she does not want to ruin it. She would rather stay on good terms with him and not see her as a creep.

"One day..." she says to herself before going on with Iida.


End file.
